Method and system for dynamically programmable serial/parallel bus interface

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, method, and system embodying some aspects of the present embodiments for arbitrating communication between multiple communication devices are provided. The arbitration system include two communication devices and a packet traffic arbiter. The communication devices can be configured to receive or transmit data transmissions. The data transmissions can comprise protocol information. The protocol information can comprise transmission coordination information, handover information, and spectrum information. The packet traffic arbiter can be configured to coordinate the data transmissions between the two communication devices. The coordination can reduce traffic collisions or interference between low-power activities of the two communication devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/755,755, filedApr. 7, 2010. This application also makes reference to, claims priorityto, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/288,040, filed on Dec. 18, 2009. Both applications are incorporatedherein in their entireties by reference thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to coexistence incommunication systems. More specifically, certain embodiments of theinvention relate to a method and system for dynamically programmableserial/parallel bus interface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electronic communication has become prolific over the last decade. Whileelectronic communication was initially limited to the desktop, recenttrends have been to make communications, media content and the Internetavailable anytime, anywhere and, increasingly, on any device. Alreadynow, it is quite common to find mobile devices such as cellular phonesor Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that incorporate a large range ofcommunication technologies and associated software. For example, fullyfeatured web-browsers, email clients, MP3 players, instant messengersoftware, and Voice-over-IP may all be found on some recent devices.

In this same spirit of the ‘anytime, anywhere’ paradigm, there is adrive towards making content stored on portable devices available to alarge number of devices over a variety of radio frequency technologies.For example, many portable media devices may be operable to provide avideo output signal to a computer monitor or a television to allowdisplay of, for example, digital photographs. For audio content, onepossible output format may be a low-power FM transmission signal. Suchintegrated multi-purpose portable devices comprising multi-radio devicesor components may interfere with each other.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and/or system for dynamically programmable serial/parallel businterface, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-radio systemcomprising a dynamically programmable serial/parallel bus interface, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary packet trafficarbitration system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-radiocoexistence system comprising a dynamically programmable serial/parallelbus interface, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-protocol commandstructure, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary protocol communication,in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor dynamically programmable serial/parallel bus interface. Aspects ofthe invention may comprise performing in a first communication devicecoupled to a communication bus, attaching communication protocolinformation to a data signal for each data transaction with one or moreother communication devices communicatively coupled to the communicationbus. The one or more other communication devices utilizing the attachedcommunication protocol information may be controlled utilizing theattached communication protocol information. The communication protocolinformation may be dynamically adjusted and/or adaptively adjusted. Thecommunication bus may be a serial or parallel communication bus. Theserial communication bus may be a two-wire, three-wire, or four-wirebus. The attached communication protocol information comprises amulti-wire protocol, a 3-wire protocol, a Serial Peripheral Interface(SPI) protocol, a System Power Management Interface (SPMI), or an RF Busprotocol. The communication devices may be radio transceivers, and theradio control access may be controlled utilizing the attachedcommunication protocol information. One or more clock counts in theattached communication protocol information may be adjusted to controlone or more associated control signals.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-radio systemcomprising a dynamically programmable serial/parallel bus interface, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1,there is shown a multi-radio device 102, comprising a processor 104,memory 112, and a plurality of radio transceivers, of which radiotransceiver 106 a, radio transceiver 106 b, and radio receiver 106 c maybe illustrated. The multi-radio device 102 may be communicativelycoupled to one or more antennas, of which antennas 108 a and 108 b maybe illustrated. There is also shown a cellular base station 110 a, aWiMAX base station 110 b, headphones 110 c, a Wireless Local AreaNetwork (WLAN) access point 110 d, and an UltraWideband (UWB) accesspoint 110 e.

The multi-radio device 102 suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to generate and/or receive radio-frequency(RF) signals in accordance with one or more RF technologies. Themulti-radio device 102 may be operable to perform, for example, basebandsignal processing in the processor 104.

The processor 104 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to perform a variety of signalprocessing tasks and may comprise controlling of the radio transceivers106 a through 106 c, for example. The processor 104 may be operable toarbitrate packet traffic via a packet traffic arbiter 114.

The packet traffic arbiter 114 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control access to atransmission media for the radio transceivers 106 a through 106 c, forexample. In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, thepacket traffic arbiter 114 may be implemented via, for example, aprocessor 104, and/or may be implemented via separate hardware.

The memory 112 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store data and/or code that may be accessedby the processor 104 and/or the radio transceivers 106 a through 106 c(1-N).

The radio transceiver 106 a may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to generate RF signals andintermediate frequency (IF) signals from baseband signals, which may becommunicated from the processor, in accordance with a radio frequencytechnology and/or standard. In addition, the radio transceiver 106 a maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may beoperable to receive RF signals via one or more antennas, for example,antennas 108 a and 108 b, and convert the RF signals to basebandsignals. The generated baseband signals may be desirably formatted forfurther processing in the processor 104, for example. The radiotransceivers 106 b through 106 c (2-N) may be substantially similar toradio transceiver 106 a but may operate in accordance with differentradio technologies. The radio transceivers 106 a through 106 c (1-N)may, for example, generate and/or receive signals in accordance withcellular radio standards (UMTS, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, EV-DO, COMA 2000 andothers), broadband standards (for example WiMAX IEEE 802.16, WiBro), andshort-range communication standards (WLAN IEEE 802.11, UWB, ZigBee andothers). In some instances, the radio transceivers 106 a though 106 cmay be operable to conform to multiple radio frequency technologies, forexample when a radio transceiver may be a software-defined radioplatform.

Each of the plurality of antennas communicatively coupled to themulti-radio device 102, for example antennas 108 a and 108 b, maycomprise suitable circuitry, logic, interfaces and/or code that mayenable them to be communicatively coupled to one or more radiotransceivers 106 a through 106 c. Each of the radio transceiver 106 athrough 106 c may be communicatively coupled to at least one antenna,and some antennas may be shared between a plurality of radiotransceivers. Each radio transceiver 106 a through 106 c may receiveand/or transmit RF signals in accordance with an RF technology to/fromanother device, for example, a cellular basestation 110 a, a WiMAXbasestation 110 b, a Bluetooth headphone 110 c, a WLAN access point 110d, and/or a UWB access point 110 e. In accordance with variousembodiments of the invention, the components of the multi-radio device102 may be implemented in a single chip, or with multiple chips andassociated circuitry.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary packet trafficarbitration system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a packet traffic arbitration system200 comprising a packet traffic arbiter 202, a plurality of radiotransceivers, of which radio transceiver 206 a through 206 (1-3) may beillustrated. There is also shown communication links 208 a, 208 b, and208 c.

The packet traffic arbiter 202 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control traffic flowand/or access to the radio resources of a plurality of radiotransceivers in a system. In accordance with various embodiments of theinvention, the packet traffic arbiter 202 may be substantially similarto the packet traffic arbiter 114 illustrated in FIG. 1.

The radio transceivers 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c may be substantiallysimilar to the radio transceivers in FIG. 1.

The communication links 208 a, 208 b and 208 c may comprise suitabledevices, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to facilitatecommunications between radio transceivers and the packet traffic arbiter(PTA).

In multi-radio systems as illustrated in FIG. 1, the radio transceiversmay often be physically co-located. Some radio transceivers may operatein the same or similar frequency bands. Table 1 may show some exemplaryradio technologies and their associated frequency bands:

TABLE 1 Exemplary frequency bands Wireless Technology Frequency BandCellular: CDMAIGPRS 824-894 MHz, 800-960 MHz, 1170-1880 MHz, 1850-1900MHz W-CDMA/UMTS 2110-2170 MHz EDGE 824-960 MHz, 1710/1990 MHz HSDPA2110-2170 MHz Bluetooth 2.0 2.402-2.480 GHz UWB 3.6-10.1 GHz (andBluetooth 3.0) WiFi 2.4 GHz, 5.15-5.825 GHz (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n)WiMAX/WiBro 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3-3.8 GHz (IEEE 802.16a) FM 76-108 MHzGPS 1.2 GHz, 1.5-1.6 GHz DVB-H TV 1.6-1.7 GHzIn some instances, radio transceivers may interfere with each otherbecause of simultaneous or nearly simultaneous operation, and/or becauseone radio transceiver may desire to transmit while another radiotransceiver may desire to receive, for example. In these instances,centralized traffic control that may help to avoid interference andhence errors, that may lead to lost packets.

Exemplary interfaces comprising the 2-wire interface, the 3-wireinterface, and the 4-wire interface may be utilized in some instancesfor interference avoidance. In some instances, these multi-wireinterfaces may be proprietary. The wire interfaces may, however, onlywork for two radio transceivers and may be used to improveBluetooth-WLAN coexistence and/or antenna sharing in some instances. The3-wire interface, for example, may be used for Bluetooth-WLANcoexistence, in accordance with the IEEE 802.15.2 Recommended Practice.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the PTA 202 mayexchange information with the radio transceivers 206 a, 206 b, and 206 cvia the communication links 208 a, 208 b, and 208 c. The informationexchanged may be used by the PTA 202 to coordinate receiving andtransmitting activities by the radio transceivers, for example radiotransceivers 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c. By exchanging desirableinformation between the radio transceivers and the PTA 202, the PTA 202may employ coordination algorithms that may reduce or eliminate trafficcollisions and increase efficiency. Thus, exemplary information that maybe communicated between the PTA 202 and the radio transceivers 206 a,206 b, and 206 c may comprise transmission coordination information,handover information, and spectrum management information, to controlthe radio transceivers 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c efficiently. In someinstances, coordination may aid in making handover decisions, forexample in deciding to handover a phone call from a cellular radiotransceiver to a Voice-over-IP (VoiP) call via a short-range radiotransceiver, for example WLAN. A further benefit may be coordination oflow-power activities by the radio transceivers. For example, scanningthe spectrum for nearby nodes, or sending periodic messages to a nearbyaccess point and/or basestation, or receiving broadcast information maybe achieved more efficiently by the radio transceivers if they arecoordinated. A reduction in interference for such low-power activities,as well as in active transmission and reception activities may reducepower consumption and increase battery life, for example stand-by times.In some instances, by judiciously selecting desirable radio transceivercombinations and parameters, it may be possible, for example, to receiveBluetooth frames concurrently with the transmission of WLANacknowledgement (ACK) packets, by selecting desirable transmit powerlevels.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-radiocoexistence system comprising a dynamically programmable serial/parallelbus interface, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a coexistence system 300 comprisinga serial bus 302 and a plurality of radio transceivers, of which radiotransceivers 306 a through 306 f may be illustrated. The serial bus 302may comprise a serial data line 310, and a serial clock line 312.

The serial bus 302 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to communicate data between a pluralityof communication entities that may be communicatively coupled to theserial bus 302. The serial bus 302 may comprise a serial data line 310and a serial clock line 312. The serial data line 310 may be coupled toa supply voltage Vdd via a pull-up resistor 304 a, and the serial clockline 312 may be coupled to the supply voltage Vdd via a pull-up resistor304 b.

Each of the plurality of radio transmitters, for example radiotransceivers 306 a through 306 f, may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to generate RFsignals and intermediate frequency (IF) signals from baseband signalsthat may be communicated from the processor, in accordance with a radiofrequency technology and/or standard. In addition, each of the radiotransceivers 306 a through 306 f, for example, may be operable tocommunicate to each other and, in some instances, to other devices viathe serial bus 302.

In most instances, it may be desirable that any one radio transceiver,for example, any one of radio transceivers 306 a through 306 f may be apacket traffic arbiter (PTA), in accordance with the needs in thesystem. In this regard, the PTA may be chosen from among the activenodes. In some instances, the PTA may be an inactive radio transmitterthat may have sufficient extra processing power to coordinate among theplurality of radio transceivers. The PTA node, for example radiotransceiver 306 c, as illustrated in FIG. 3, may coordinate theactivities of the plurality of radio transceivers to minimize theinterference between them.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the radiotransceivers 306 a through 306 f may be separate devices and it may bedesirable to operate different devices with different communicationprotocols, or varying configurations of a same protocol. For example,the radio transceivers 306 a through 306 f may communicate via a 3-wireprotocol, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol, a System PowerManagement Interface (SPMI), or a Nokia RF Bus (basic mode) protocol. Inanother exemplary embodiment of the invention, varying configurations ofa same protocol may be used, for example SPMI with varying address anddata field sizes for various slaves on the bus. In accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention, arbitrary multi-wire protocols maybe operable on the serial bus 302. In these instances, it may bedesirable to use a communication protocol on the serial bus 302, forexample, which may be able to communicate utilizing a plurality ofprotocols, and may not be hard-wired to a fixed communications protocol.By utilizing multiple protocols over the serial bus 302, the bus may bevery flexible to protocol changes, and topology changes in the network.Thus, it may be desirable to attach protocol information to the datapackets, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating anexemplary multi-protocol command structure, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4A, there is shown anexemplary 128-bit command structure 400, comprising an Enable 0 (EN0)402 field, an Enable 1 (EN1) 404 field, an Output Enable 0 (OE0) 406field, an Output Enable 1 (OE1) 408 field, a Read Enable 0 (RDEN0) 410field, a Read Enable 1 (RDEN1) 412 field, a Phase 0 (PHASE0) 414 field,a Length (LENGTH) 416 field, a Data [63:32] 418 field, and a Data [31:0]420 field.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, it may bedesirable to include protocol information with each data transaction. Inthis manner, a plurality of communication protocols may be supported. Inparticular, protocol information fields may be attached to the datapackets, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. Because each data transaction maycomprise protocol information, each slave device, for example radiotransceiver 306 b, may utilize a different communication protocol. Thus,by sending protocol information with each data transaction, acommunication protocol may be dynamically programmed, and adaptivelyadjusted. The communication protocol data may be 64 bit as illustrated,in FIG. 4A, or any other arbitrary bit length. The communicationprotocol data fields may be EN0 402 field, EN1 404 field, OE0 406 field,OE1 408 field, RDEN0 410 field, RDEN1 412 field, PHASE0 414 field, andLENGTH 416 field, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. Alternatively, thecommunication protocol may comprise any other arbitrary, desirable datafields. In addition, attaching protocol information for each transactionmay allow dynamically programmable serial and/or parallel buses.

The EN0 402 field, may comprise a clock count, for example, which may beused to define for how many clock cycles a logic zero may be enabled.Similarly, the EN1 404 field, may comprise a clock count that may beused to define for how many clock cycles a logic zero may be enabled.Similarly, the Output Enable OEN0 406 field, the OEN1 408 field, theRead Enable RDEN0 410 field, and RDEN1 412 field may define clockcounts. The PHASE0 414 field may also be defined as a clock count,defining a phase change. A phase change may, for example, indicatewhether a signal may be triggered on a rising-edge clock edge or afalling-edge clock edge. The LENGTH 416 field may be used, for example,to define the length of the communication protocol information fields,to separate the data from the protocol data.

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary protocol communication,in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4B, there is shown an internal clock signal CLK_INT 430, anexternal clock signal CLK_EXT 432, an enable signal EN 434, and outputenable signal OEN 436, a read enable signal RDEN 438, a phase signal(PHASE) 440, and a data signal 442.

The internal clock signal, CLK_INT 430, comprises, for example, an m-aryamplitude signal and associated timing information. The external clocksignal, CLK_EXT 432, comprises for example, an m-ary amplitude signaland associated timing information. The enable signal, EN 434, comprisesfor example, an m-ary amplitude signal and associated timinginformation. The EN 434 signal may be utilized to enable one or moredevice, circuitry, logic, and/or code. The output enable signal, OEN436, comprises for example, an m-ary amplitude signal and associatedtiming information. The OEN 436 signal may be utilized to enable one ormore outputs via circuitry, logic, and/or code. The read enable signal,RDEN 438, comprises for example, an m-ary amplitude signal andassociated timing information. The RDEN 438 signal may be utilized toenable one or more read interfaces via circuitry, logic, and/or code.The phase signal (PHASE) 440, comprises for example, an m-ary amplitudesignal and associated timing information. The PHASE 440 signal may beutilized to enable one or more phase interfaces via circuitry, logic,and/or code. The data signal 442 comprises for example, an m-aryamplitude signal and associated timing information. The data signal 442signal may be utilized to enable data communications.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, FIG. 4B mayillustrate an exemplary time-signal diagram. For example, the EN 434signal may be defined through the transitions/toggling from binary 1 tobinary 0, defined by the clock counts in the EN0 402 and the EN1 404fields, as illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. Similarly, the outputenable OEN 436 may be defined through the clock counts given in OEN 406and OEN1 408 as illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. Similarly, the readenable RDEN 438 may be defined through the clock counts given in RDEN0410 and RDEN1 412 as illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. The phasesignal and the length of the transaction may be defined through thePHASE0 414 and LENGTH fields, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 4Aand FIG. 4B.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a method and systemfor multi-radio coexistence and a collaborative interface may compriseperforming in a first communication device, for example radiotransceiver 306 c, coupled to a communication bus 302, attachingcommunication protocol information 400 to a data signal, for exampledata signal 442 for each data transaction with one or more othercommunication devices, for example radio transceivers 206 a, 206 b, 306a or 306 b, communicatively coupled to the communication bus 302. The ormore other communication devices, for example radio transceivers 106 athrough 106 c, may be controlled utilizing the attached communicationprotocol information 400. The communication protocol information 400 maybe dynamically adjusted and/or adaptively adjusted, for example EN0 402,EN1 404, OEN0 406, OEN1 408, RDEN0 410, RDEN1 412, PHASE0 414, and/orLENGTH 416. The communication bus 302 may be a serial or parallelcommunication bus. The serial communication bus 302 may be a two-wire,three-wire, or four-wire bus. The attached communication protocolinformation comprises a multi-wire protocol, a 3-wire protocol, a SerialPeripheral Interface (SPI) protocol, a System Power Management Interface(SPMI), or an RF Bus protocol. The communication devices may be radiotransceivers, for example radio transceivers 106 a through 106 c, andthe radio control access may be controlled utilizing the attachedcommunication protocol information 400. One or more clock counts, forexample CLK_INT 430 or CLK_EXT 432, in the attached communicationprotocol information may be adjusted to control one or more associatedcontrol signals.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readablestorage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least onecode section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine toperform the steps•as described herein for dynamically programmableserial/parallel bus interface.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for arbitrating communication signals comprising: transmitting modified data transactions, comprising protocol information, to two communication devices; and coordinating reception and transmission of other data transactions by the two communication devices comprising reducing interference between low-power activities of the two communication devices using the protocol information.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the interference comprises reducing traffic collisions using the protocol information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein coordinating further comprises controlling access by the two communication devices to radio resources.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein coordinating further comprises selecting transceiver parameters so the two communication devices can be used concurrently.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transceiver parameters comprise transmit power levels.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the two communication devices use different protocols.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit modified data transmissions, comprising protocol information, to two communication devices; and an arbitration unit configured to coordinate reception and transmission of other data transactions of the two communication devices by reducing interference between low-power activities of the two communication device using the protocol information.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the reducing interference comprises reducing traffic collisions.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the two communication devices use different protocols.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the arbitration unit is further configured to select transceiver parameters such that the two communication devices can be used concurrently.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transceiver parameters comprise transmit power levels.
 12. A system for arbitrating communication signals comprising: two communication devices configured to receive data transmissions, comprising protocol information; and a packet traffic arbiter (PTA) configured to coordinate of the data transmissions of the two communication devices by reduce interference between low-power activities of the two communication devices.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the PTA is farther configured to reduce traffic collisions using the protocol information.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the PTA is further configured to control access of the two communication devices to a transmission media.
 15. A method for arbitrating communication signals comprising: receiving data transactions, comprising protocol information comprising coordination information, handover information, and spectrum information, from two communication devices; and coordinating reception and transmission of the data transactions from the two communication devices using the protocol information contained within the data transactions.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the coordination reduces traffic collisions.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the coordination further comprises aiding in making handover decisions.
 18. A system for arbitrating communication signals comprising: two communication devices; and a packet traffic arbiter (PTA) configured to receive data transmissions, comprising protocol information comprising transmission coordination information, handover information, and spectrum information, from the two communication devices and to coordinate reception and transmission of data transmissions from the two communication devices to reduce or eliminate traffic collisions using the protocol information.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the coordination reduces traffic collisions.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the coordination further comprises aiding in making handover decisions. 